Castaway Cay with Good Weather

We were a little nervous about our stop in Castaway Cay, because when we had been there the year before it was cold and rainy, but this year we were in luck! The sun was out, and it was a beautiful day for the beach.

We got to the island early enough to get a wagon, and Jeff the super dad pulled the girls along.

Definitely much better beach weather than the year before.  Vivian asked if we could get one of the big inner tubes, and I figured, why not?

The popcorn bucket turned out to be a great beach toy too.

Elena mostly stuck to the beach, while Viv and Jeff took full advantage of the inner tube.

It was a bit crowded, but so beautiful that I really didn't care.

We also learned a cool trick from watching the families around us.  You could take the low beach chairs and put them right along the water.  That way you could see the kids, have your feet in the water, but not have to sit in the sand.  Brilliant!

We left Mom and Dad with the girls, and Jeff and I went to check out the adults only part of the island called Serenity Bay.  Our timing was perfect, because we ran into Jim and Kitty, and had a lovely lunch together.

By then we had been on the beach for several hours, and we figured it was probably time to start heading back, especially since none of the lunch food they were serving on the island really appealed to Elena.  The girls snuggled back in the wagon for the ride home to the ship.

When we got closer to the ship, we gave the wagon to another family, and then the girls and I got on the trolley while Jeff walked.  I got one last picture of them on the island before getting back on the ship.

Cabanas was closed by the time we got back on the ship, but Mater's Grill had yummy chicken strips, so the girls gobbled those up and then played on the slides for a while longer.  Eventually, even they agreed it was time for a break from the sun, and they spent the rest of the afternoon in the kids club.  The sky as we were sailing away from the island was lovely.

It was especially sad to sail away this time, because we have no idea when or if we'll be back.  The last dinner was bittersweet.  We tried to focus on the positive though with an early celebration of Elena's birthday which is at the end of January.  She and I had just run into Minne on the way to dinner,

and then she got chocolate cake and a chorus of Happy Birthday, so she was very pleased.

We let the girls spend some more time in the kids club after dinner, but eventually it was time to bring them back to the room for our last night on our Disney cruise.